ASHLEY WILLIAMS has labelled the recent London media bashing of Swansea City as “ridiculous”.

Some pundits were quick to jump on the bandwagon that Swansea had been found out in the Premier League after four successive defeats left Brendan Rodgers’ men casting glances at the relegation battle below them.

The former England defender Martin Keown even described Swansea’s passing game as “like watching paint dry” following their 3-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers last Wednesday.

But Swansea bounced back with a stylish 3-0 victory over relegation-haunted Blackburn Rovers on Saturday to clear the 40-point barrier.

That is the universally accepted mark for top-flight safety and, now on 42 points with four games still remaining, Rodgers and his men are looking upwards again.

But the severity of the criticism after such a successful baptism in the Premier League has clearly rankled in the Swansea camp.

“It’s ridiculous, we get it every year,” said Williams.

“The same thing happened in the Championship. We lost a few games but teams are playing differently against us.

“We haven’t really spoken about it (the criticism) but we used it as a little bit of motivation against Blackburn.

“Apart from, say Everton or Norwich, where they were the better teams, we have beaten ourselves in the last few games.

“But we are not going to win all the games because there will be teams that are better on the day.

“They might get it tactically better than us, we are not above that. If that does happen and we get found out for the day, then so be it.

“But I’m sure we won’t get found out too many weeks.”

Swansea’s unity was symbolised at the final whistle on Saturday by a post-match huddle.

Rodgers called all the players and staff into the huddle, almost recognition of a job well done in staying in the Premier League on a miniscule budget compared to others.

“We just want to stick together,” said Wales defender Williams and Swansea’s on-field leader with Garry Monk currently out of the starting line-up.

“We said the same people who praise you knock you down as soon as you lose a few games.

“The only people we can trust really are inside that huddle.

“We had a good feeling about the Blackburn game and we knew if we won that we wanted to show a sign of unity.

“There had been a few issues that maybe sub-consciously got on top of the boys but we’ve done a lot of talking this week and we wanted to put things right.

“It was the first time we have had a little rocky period and a lot of teams have that.

“We just wanted to clear a few things up without panicking – we leave the panicking to everyone else.

“Every time we have had a little spell where we have needed a little talk we have come out fighting the next time.”

Rodgers has demanded his players finish the season as strongly as possible with substantial prize money up for grabs for every Premier League place.

Doomed Wolves and FA Cup finalists Liverpool must still visit the Liberty with away-days to come at Bolton and league leaders Manchester United.

“We’ve still got a lot to play for,” insisted Williams, who looked back to his best against Blackburn after a rare spell where illness and a loss of weight saw form slip below his usual high standards.

“We want to finish as high as we can. We want more points and we are not bothered about being safe.